Muslim Free Zone is Unconstitutional

Andy Hallinan, owner of the Florida Gun Supply

It started with the press announcing that George Zimmerman did a painting of the confederate flag because a Florida gun shop owner is being sued. Zimmerman wants to sell prints of the painting and split the money with the gun shop owner.

Twenty-eight year old Andy Halliman, owner of Florida Gun Supply in Inverness, Florida, is being sued by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, (CAIR).

Hallinan calls himself a “patriot” and thinks that his unlawful discrimination protects America.   Previously, Hallinan allowed American-Muslims customers to take his gun safety course and purchase from him if they told him they had served the country and didn’t believe in the caliphate or in killing non-believers. He made them take an oath.

Hassan Shibly, chief exective director of CAIR Florida, said,

“American Muslims have a right to browse and purchase guns, take classes on gun safety and shoot guns at a range without having to be profiled and discriminated.”

What Hallinan did not know is that a veteran of the Persian Gulf who is Muslim had signed up to take Hallinan’s gun safety class, and that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was following him to monitor the situation. Kevin Richardson, ATF spokesperson, said the gun store owner, and all other federal firearms licensees, are expected to comply with both federal and states laws. “That includes laws against discrimination,” Richardson said.

The ATF however, cannot tell a business when to open or close.  Therefore, by closing his store, Hallinan avoided any possible legal consequences by the ATF.

Hallinan initially posted a video on Facebook after five U.S military personnel were shot in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Hallinan stood in front of a confederate flag and declared his business a “Muslim-free zone.

Shibly said the video hurt him because he believes America is built on the idea of freedom of religion. He said he would be just as horrified to hear about a Jewish-free zone, a Catholic-free zone, a white-free zone or a black-free zone. Due to the controversy surrounding the video, Hallinan employed men with AK-47s to stand guard outside his store.

“What’s so scary about the anti-Muslim industry is that it has incited violence against those perceived to be Muslim. We have many of our brothers and sisters in the Indian community and the Sikh community that have all been targeted. That’s why Islamophobia really is so dangerous,” Shibly said.

Hallinan said he doesn’t want to see violence because he doesn’t believe that is the correct method for handling the issue.

“Unfortunately there’s a bit of a double standard,” Shibly said. “A white-American Christian male can commit a horrible act of terrorism like the mass shootings we fought in Charleston or more recently Lafayette, but people know that those criminals represent nobody but themselves. However, when someone who happens to be Muslim commits a similar act or act of terrorism, people tend to blame the entire Islamic community. That’s not what America is about. We cannot allow our enemies to divide us and turn us against each other using terrorism, fear and bigotry.”

Hallinan claims that he turns away others when their actions or demeanor make him uncomfortable and he claims that as a First Amendment right.   He does not understand that the First Amendment does not give him right to discriminate in business because of religion, race, color or national origin.

CAIR filed the lawsuit on the grounds that Florida Gun Supply may not discriminate or segregate against anyone based upon religion, according to the complaint.  It seeks enjoining Hallinan from discriminating.

So, how did George Zimmerman become involved? According to Hallinan, Zimmerman contacted him after he saw his Muslim Free video and encouraged him to not back down. According to Zimmerman, his motivation to help Hallinan is because he doesn’t feel that those who support the confederate flag should be called “racist.” Of course, since Zimmerman says he is not a racist, and if he paints the confederate flag, that is suppose to remove or negate individual opinion that the flag represents a time in this country when race and slavery were the center of the Civil War. That logic is the same as someone supporting and painting the Nazi flag and claiming they do not hold Aryan race ideologies.

WUFT has the full story.

Some might find some of the language in the following videos offensive.